You kinda suck
by AccioErised
Summary: They hadn't really gotten off on the right foot. Neither did they expect to get along with each other. But hey, life's all about surprises ain't it?
1. Chapter 1

**This one's not going to be a one-shot! I don't own Naruto! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

"Stop it," Sakura growled under her breath. She had placed herself in front of the first year he had been ready to punch. She stood calmly, both arms limp by her side. Her gaze fixed firmly on him. The look of disgust was evident on both their expression.

"Get out of my way, un," Deidara drawled lazily, "I'm not afraid of hitting girls you know."

"Please, I'm not afraid of you hitting me." She scoffed and gestured to the bewildered boy standing awkwardly behind her, "why do you want to hit him? What did he do to you? You're too sensitive."

His fist flew at her face. Before he could make contact with her nose, she nimbly caught his fist in her hand and with her other she pushed his shoulder down while twisting his wrist in the most excruciating manner possible. He made a grab for her elbow and tried to yank her wrist away from his shoulder but it was useless. Kicking his legs hard, she stopped them from supporting his weight. He stumbled to his knees and soon, she had forced him to the ground. Again he reached out his free arm and tried to get a hold of her ankle but she was too fast for him. She stepped to her right swung her right leg across his back and used her body weight to prevent him from muscling his way up.

He ended up face flat on the ground. She was sitting on top of him, her feet firmly placed on either side of his shoulders. She twisted his arm behind his back mercilessly. Good thing she always wore shorts under her school skirt.

"Fuck! Get off me!" He was furious. No one had been able to catch him off guard like that. This girl had not only managed to tackle him to the ground, she was also causing him excruciating pain. He slapped the ground as he felt multiple spasms of pain shoot up his arm and tried to shake her off his back, she wouldn't budge an inch.

"Can't even fight, what a baby," Sakura taunted him and twisted his arm another few centimetres. She fought back a giggle as he began to struggle against her strong grip.

Curious groups of students had begun forming a circle around them. The first year had muttered a quick 'thank you' to Sakura before joining the students. Deidara could feel the tips of his ears burn in embarrassment. He was never going to live this down. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see students and friends laughing and shaking their heads at him in disappointment.

"All right, clear off! Sakura get off him at once!"

A string of profanities could be heard from both students before Sakura got off Deidara.

"Tsunade sama, I'm not trying to push the blame onto anyone here, but the guy with the ponytail was about to hit a kid. I was merely protecting the innocent." Sakura crossed her arms and announced loudly before the principal could say anything.

Tsunade rolled her eyes; these types of incidents were a normal occurrence at Konoha High. Not a week would pass without her having to break up a fight in the school parking lot, and more often than enough, the privacy of her office would be invaded by students serving detention.

"It wasn't even any of your business, un." Deidara shouted at Sakura before stalking off in the direction of the back of the school with his group of friends. The circle of students began to giggle and whisper excitedly, gossip about the fight already spreading like wildfire.

Tsunade glared at the students and waved them away. Sakura dusted herself and walked off to where her friends had been waiting.

Hinata, one of Sakura's closest friends nudged Sakura and asked, "Why do you care so much? You could've been hurt."

"Yeah, why is it always when some kid is going to get attacked you bother to get involved?" Ino, another friend added.

"I hate seeing innocent people hurt," Sakura replied with smile.

"Man, that was fucked up." Hidan laughed at Deidara as they made their way to the field at the back of the school.

"Shut up, un. She got lucky and caught me off guard that's all." Deidara mumbled. He was in no mood for teasing now. His ego had been wounded enough.

"Hn," Itachi was never a man of many words.

"Keep telling yourself that." Sasori snickered.

"Yeah, it's no big deal." Pein said sarcastically. "Her psychomotor skills are just way better than yours."

Deidara stopped walking and flopped down onto the grass. He closed his eyes in frustration. Images of the fight replayed behind his lids, enacting a shudder from him every now and then. Her name was Sakura; the principal had called her that. She was the last person he would ever expect the beat him in a fight. She didn't even look like she knew how to fight what with her pink hair and all!

"Never trust a pretty face, un," He sighed and placed his hands behind his head, "especially not hers."

"So you think she's pretty?" Sasori asked a smirk playing on his lips. "The one guy here who's sworn off girls forever thinks the only girl who attacked him and succeeded is pretty. That's pretty messed up."

"No," Deidara sniffed, "She's not pretty, un. Her forehead's too big, she shouldn't pin her fringe up like that. And her eye colour clashes with her hair, un. Green eyes and pink hair, really? I doubt that's even her natural hair colour, un. A freak of nature if you ask me."

"Hn, that's hurtful." Itachi sat himself down beside Deidara and pointed out. After much thought, he added, "I think my brother knows her."

"Like he fucking cares, 'tachi. That bitch nearly maimed both his ego and physical health." Hidan exclaimed in between guffaws.

"She better watch out, un. I'm not afraid of hitting girls remember." Deidara spat.

"Maybe she was right; you're too sensitive Dei-Dei." Sasori chuckled. The glare Deidara gave him in response was enough to burn holes in the sides of his head.

She had one good point though; she didn't scratch him or pull his hair like other girls when they got into a fight.

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><p><strong>Care to review? Suggestions? Please?<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Finally done with this chapter! There is more swearing in this chapter than the previous, just a warning. Hope you enjoy it! Please review :D **

**I don't own Naruto.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 <strong>

"So in conclusion, un," Deidara continued with a grin, "art is a bang!" He finished his long speech on art with flourish and strutted back to his seat beside Sasori.

"Thank you for your insightful thoughts, Deidara," Kurenai sensei, the art teacher grumbled, "however, I did ask for a short write up on what you were making for the art festival next month. So I guess it safe to assume you haven't done it yet?"

Deidara cleared his throat and glanced at her sheepishly while unconsciously stroking his ponytail.

"Detention tomorrow after school and I want the write up by this week."

Sasori raised his eyebrows as Deidara sank into his seat at the back of the class. Sasori smirked and pointed out, "by the way, art isn't a bang you idiot." With a dreamy look on his face he added, "art is something that never rots or fades away."

"Like you really know anything about art, un, all you make are those weird dolls." Deidara sniggered in response. Sasori made a face and an argument between Deidara and Sasori began in whispers.

"Nice of you to join us," Kurenai's cold voice rang out. Both Deidara's and Sasori's heads shot up. Nobody dared to anger her further when she was had one her infamous moods. "You can join Deidara in detention tomorrow, Sakura."

Sakura muttered something unintelligible. She rummaged through her bag and fished out a crumpled piece of paper which she handed to Kurenai sensei before apologising to her. Kurenai sensei scanned the sheet of paper and nodded at Sakura, waving her away to the only empty seat left in class.

"Pssst! Dei-Dei, Pinky's in this class too!" Sasori slapped the back of Deidara's head and tried to muffle his laughter. "I never noticed!"

Deidara scowled in Sakura's direction. He couldn't help but think how Sasori would tell Itachi and Hidan and Pein; and how he would have to spend three hours in detention with HER. God knows what else she would do to him while they were together.

The bell rang signalling the end of class. Deidara grimaced and swung his bag over his shoulder. He could feel Sakura's scrutinizing gaze on him. He had a free period next and rushed out of the classroom. Muttering a 'see you later' to Sasori, Deidara made his way to his locker to meet up with Hidan for their usual lunch break.

"So, heard you have to spend three whole fucking hours with the bitch that kicked your ass." Hidan leaned against the lockers and remarked.

"Shut up, un," Deidara said and crossed his arms, "how do you know anyway."

"Sasori," Hidan announced, brandishing his phone in front of Deidara's face, the lighted screen showing the conversation in which Sasori had told Hidan, possibly even Itachi and Pein about detention with Pinky.

"So what are you going to do about detention with her?" Hidan asked, trying and failing to mask his curiosity.

"I don't know, un," Deidara admitted. They were walking to the school cafeteria.

"You should get her back for beating you up." Hidan added thoughtfully

"How?"

"I don't fucking know," Hidan's brows furrowed in frustration, he barked, "You're the one who got beat up by a fucking girl." Thus making Deidara break his all-time record for giving the most glares in a day.

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><p>"Detention day," Deidara thought, standing outside the principal's office the next day, "I'm spending three hours with the girl that beat me up; if this isn't humiliating, Hidan is the most pure mouthed creature in existence."<p>

He braced himself and knocked once on the door before letting himself in. He had been in the principal's office countless of times, but this time he actually felt uneasy.

"Ah, Deidara, sit there will you," Tsunade pointed to a table without looking up from her paperwork. Deidara looked around. Sakura wasn't here yet. He took his seat by the window, and cupped his chin in his hands. The hands clock on the wall behind the principal's desk ticked by. Half an hour had past and still no sign of Sakura.

"Sorry… sorry I'm late," Sakura burst into the office and panted, "Forgot about detention."

"So she's always late," Deidara caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye and muttered. Tsunade clicked her tongue in annoyance, "come back tomorrow for another half hour." Sakura saluted her and threw her bag down onto the other desk in the office.

She plonked into her seat. Making herself comfortable, she rested one side of her head on her bag and put one arm around her it like she was cuddling a pillow. Her eyes met Deidara's. His mouth curved upwards into a mean sneer and made rude sign with his finger. Sakura raised one eyebrow at his childish behaviour. Mirroring his insulting gesture and sticking her tongue out at him for good measure, she then turned her head and faced the other side of the room instead.

Their actions however, did not go unnoticed by Tsunade. Without taking her eyes up from her work, she ordered in a stern voice, "anymore vulgarities from either of you, audible or not, and there'll be a week's worth of detention waiting tomorrow."

Deidara simply cocked his head and said, "yes, m'lady," before adding an exaggerated bow while sitting down for extra effect. Sakura on the other hand sat up, gave Tsunade another salute, and imitating a soldier she barked out, "ma'am, yes ma'am," then immediately assumed her previous position.

Three hours felt like eternity to Deidara, especially when he was spending those three hours with someone who had beaten him up. Sakura hadn't moved since she turned away from him He was beginning to suspect she had fallen asleep.

"Okay, get out." Tsunade got up abruptly, pushing her chair backwards making a loud screeching noise. Sakura's back straightened up so suddenly, it looked like she had gotten an electric shock. Deidara guessed correct, she had fallen asleep. Rubbing her eyes groggily with one hand and trying to stifle her yawn with the other, she stood up, grabbed her bag and stumbled out the door.

"Don't be late tomorrow!" Tsunade hollered after her. Deidara was stretching his stiff limbs after Sakura had exited the office.

"What are you waiting for? Go, shoo," Tsunade chided him in the middle of a stretch, "I have to go off now." She pushed him out, thinking of the secret stash of alcohol she kept hidden in the back of her fridge at home. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she gave Deidara one last shove out of her office.

Deidara walked out to the parking lot. While jogging to where he had left his motorbike, he spotted Sakura brisk walking out of the gates and another senior guy he didn't recognize. He was just about to get onto his bike; he heard books hitting the ground and a shout of anger. Starting his bike, he made a turn and saw Sakura kneeling on the tar ground, books and pens sprawled around her. Squinting, he spotted the senior he didn't know laughing and running away from her, towards the direction of the school gates.

"You fucking bastard! Who the fuck pushes a girl down just 'cause he's pissed? Are you canoeing down the bloody river or something, oestrogen messing you up? What's your fucking problem, huh bitch?" She screamed after him, a think coat of frustration and anger layering her every word. She picked up a pen knife and got to her feet. Brandishing it in his direction, she shouted, "I'll shove my pen knife so far up your ass your eyes will start bleeding! Grow some balls and fight me like a man. Only a pussy runs away. Fuck you!"

"How typical of her," Deidara smirked and drove past her shouting over his shoulder, "karma's a bitch if you are too." He looked in the mirror and for the second time that day, saw her waving her hand with her middle finger stuck out at him

He had to give it to her though; she could curse as well as Hidan, maybe even better. He mentally checked off an imaginary box in his head. That was two good points she had now.


	3. Chapter 3

**3rd chapter's up! Enjoy. I don't own Naruto. Thank you ChicFreakSistaFierce for reviewing the past 2 chapters. You're very nice :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

"Good that we all have the same free period, huh?" Sasori said, lying down in the middle of the field.

"Remember how much trouble we went through to get it, un?" Deidara laughed.

"But it was fucking worth it," Hidan finished.

"Hn."

"Hey look, Pinky's playing ball!" Sasori observed. Deidara averted his gaze to the basketball court about 20 metres from where they were sitting.

"Speaking of Pinky, un," Deidara began excitedly, looking around at his friends like a kid who couldn't wait to show off his new toy. "Did I tell you what happen after detention yesterday?"

"About a hundred fucking times, dammit," Hidan threw his hands up in mock frustration.

"I thought it was a hundred and one?" Sasori added sarcastically.

"Shut up," Deidara muttered and rolled his eyes. He went back to watching the game. Sakura's team was defending against the opposing team. Suddenly, a a student Deidara recognized as Neji rammed into Sakura when she was distracted. Due to the fact that Neji was way bigger in size than Sakura was, she was flung a couple feet back before coming into contact with the ground. She groaned and with both hands grabbed her ankle. Gai sensei, the gym teacher blew his whistle. If Sakura's groan hadn't caught everyone's attention, the piercing sound did.

"Eh, Pinky's hurt," Sasori said in a bored tone, "guess she won't be attacking you anymore."

"Damn. And things were starting to get interesting here." Hidan caught Deidara's eye and grinned.

"Hn, her ankle looks broken." Itachi was right. It wasn't hard to spot the swollen ankle from where they were sitting. They could also see Sakura shooting Neji death glares while cursing him to the depths of hell. Neji didn't seem to care. He just laughed in Sakura's face and high fived another male student Sasori identified as Kabuto.

"Hn, she's made more enemies than I thought," Itachi observed.

"Looks like Dei Dei here can call for backup anytime he's up against her," Sasori mumbled thoughtfully.

Deidara felt disgusted. Somehow, after seeing the senior push Sakura down after detention the previous day, he felt bad that Neji had at attacked her. At least when she fought with someone, she made sure they knew she was coming for them. She didn't play dirty. Just looking at Neji made him feel sick in the stomach, plus she looked like she was in a lot of pain, even worse than he was in the day she twisted his arm.

"Yo, Deidara," Deidara turned towards he voice and saw Gai sensei waving at him, "since you have free period now, come here and help me."

Deidara sighed in irritation and slouched towards the basketball court.

"Help this young lady to the nurse's office. I don't think she can walk." Gai sensei instructed. Sakura looked up at Deidara with a grimace plastered on her face.

"Great, my ankle hurts and now my eyes are scorched. What's with your hair man? You look like a lady!" She spat.

Deidara resisted the urge to smack her. He used his foot to nudge her ankle and she let out another groan. He felt like he just kicked a puppy. Trying ignore the feeling of guilt bubbling in the pit of his stomach, he crouched down and spoke to her.

"That's for insulting my hair," he snickered. That came out meaner than he planned. Clearing his throat, he added, "What's wrong with it anyway?"

"Everything," she muttered under her breath. He sighed and slipped one hand under her knees and the other behind her back. Lifting Sakura off the ground, he made the effort to be extra careful so he wouldn't make any sudden movements and jerk her ankle.

"Put me down! What the hell are you doing?" Sakura exclaimed more out of fright than in outrage.

Without slowing his pace, Deidara replied, "after witnessing that ass of a guy knock you down and watching you fly into the air before managing to land not-so-smartly on your ankle first instead of the fleshiest part of your body, un, your butt obviously," he took a deep breath and continued, "you can't possibly still walk, un. So I being the greatest guy in the world, decide to be your legs and carry you to the nurse's office; which is by the way un, on the other side of campus, instead of enjoying the pleasure of watching you limp all the way there, un."

"My butt is not fleshy," Sakura grumbled and flicked the back of his head.

"It's the fleshiest part of you. You're fucking light you know that? What do you eat? Air?" he teased, "I think even air weighs more than you." Sakura couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic and calling her fat or not.

"Speak for yourself. What's with your talk? Why do you keep saying 'un'?" Sakura retorted at last.

Deidara shot her a grin and replied cheekily, "I'm cooler than you that's why."

"Only in your dreams," Sakura retorted.

"You think I dream of you?"

"All the time," Sakura responded with a genuine laugh.

They reached the nurse's office and Deidara kicked the door open before entering and placing Sakura on the bed. He then went to call the school nurse Sakura closed her eyes and relaxed on the bed, making sure to take full advantage of the rare comfort despite the discomfort her ankle was in. She could hear Shinzune, the school nurse asking Deidara how she got her injury. Shinzune prodded different parts of Sakura's ankle. It took all Sakura had to grit her teeth and resist smacking Shinzune's hand away.

"It's broken!" Shinzune said finally.

"I figured that one out myself without all the poking around and unnecessary pain, thank you very much." Sakura muttered under her breath making Deidara chuckle.

"Deidara do you have any more classes today?" Shinzune asked.

"Nope!"

"Great you can follow Sakura to the hospital, she'll need some help. I'll get Kakashi sensei to send you." Shinzune went on. "Meet him at the parking lot in five minutes, I'm going to get Kakashi now."

If Deidara felt annoyed, he didn't show it. Nodding, he lifted Sakura off the bed bridal style and walked off to the school parking lot. Students gave them curious stares and girls infatuated with Deidara complained childishly about how Sakura didn't deserve to be in his arms.

"Break your ankle and you might just get lucky!" Sakura spat at one of them, making the girls increase the intensity of their glares directed at Sakura. Snorting, Deidara quickened his pace and they were out of the building in no time.

"Careful or you might have to fight with a broken ankle tomorrow," the concern in his voice was just barely noticeable. Sakura just sniffed and rolled her eyes. The constant throbbing pain in her ankle was making her moodier by the second.

"Get in kids, I don't have all day." Punctuating his sentence with a honk, Kakashi drove up to where the two students were standing in his black Mercedes. After putting Sakura down carefully in the back seat, Deidara walked over to the other side and got in beside her.

The car started and they were out of the school in a matter of seconds. Deidara glanced at Sakura and saw that her face was still contorted in the same grimace from when she first broke her ankle. Many girls would have been crying or at least tearing if they had to endure the pain of a broken bone. She had a really high tolerance for pain.

Whether he was conscious of it or not, he mentally checked off another box in his head. That was three good points she had so far.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! Chapter 4 is completed! Haha, I think this is the first story I've bothered to updated so regularly. **

**ChickFreakSistaFierce: chapter 3 was longer than the previous two :D But this chapter is the longest so far.  
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**Hope you enjoy it. Please review :D **

**I don't own Naruto.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

After being X-rayed, put onto a hospital bed and pushed into the emergency ward, Sakura was surrounded by nurses who were staring at the X-ray results and trying to figure out how to put the bone back into place. Thankfully, her ankle had only been fractured and not completely broken. The nurses had injected Sakura with anesthetic so she wouldn't feel the pain. She could, however, still see the nurses yanking and pulling at her foot. Finally, she was helped into a wheel chair and pushed back to the x-ray room to check if the bone had been properly put into place. When the doctors were satisfied with the results, Sakura was wheeled to another room where a nurse put her foot in a temporary cast, telling her that she had to come back to the hospital in three days to change her cast again.

All this took a total of three hours. Supporting herself on a pair of crutches borrowed from the hospital, Sakura met Kakashi sensei and Deidara in the waiting room. Kakashi paid for the medical fees since Sakura didn't have much cash on her and offered to send her and Deidara home.

"Meet me at the pick-up stand," Kakashi said, keeping his suspicious orange book he carried around with him everywhere. "Deidara, be gentle with her," he winked and sauntered off.

"What about your bike? Its in school right?" Sakura asked at last, making her way cautiously towards the exit. Using crutches were harder than she imagined. Moving certainly didn't seem as slow as she was going when she saw other people using them.

"I'll collect it tomorrow, un," came his reply. Deidara was trying to find a spot on Sakura to place his hands so he could support and 'be gentle with her' as Kakashi had instructed. He gave up and contented himself with walking a quarter his normal speed beside her.

"So you're walking to school tomorrow?" Sakura asked again politely, she felt bad for causing Deidara trouble.

"Un," he nodded his head.

Frowning slightly at the conversation killer, she prompted him, "don't you live far away from school?"

"Nope," he turned to her, eyebrows raised. "Why would you think that, un?"

"You drive a bike to school," Sakura said pointedly.

"Actually, I live only four blocks away, un." Deidara admitted sheepishly. Chuckling, he explained, "I like to sleep in."

"Pig," Sakura rolled her eyes.

He shrugged off her pathetic insult, "how 'bout you, un? You're still going to walk to school tomorrow."

"I guess," she answered, looking thoughtful.

"Where do you -" He was cut off by Kakashi telling them to get into the car. Deidara held the car door open while Sakura climbed in.

"I feel like a butler, un," Deidara whined to himself when he shut the door for Sakura and ran to the other side to get in. This was the first time he held open a door for anyone. Both Sakura and Deidara gave their addresses to Kakashi and they were off.

"It's already two, un. I haven't even had lunch yet." Deidara grumbled to no one in particular.

"Oh, I didn't notice." Sakura shot back, sarcasm dripping off every word. Deidara ignored her remark.

"Don't suppose you're going anywhere today." He mumbled.

"Don't suppose so," Sakura sighed and sneaked a glance at her foot which was covered in hardened plaster. "Want to come over to my place? You can order pizza for lunch?"

"It's like you read minds, un." Deidara grinned.

"Kakashi sensei," Sakura's voice drifted away, she peered into the rear view mirror and caught her sensei's eye. Before Sakura could speak, Kakashi gave her a thumbs-up. He had already heard their entire conversation anyway. The sides of his eyes crinkled up, he was smiling at the mere thought of having more alone time with his little orange book.

They reached Sakura's apartment and were shooed out of the car by Kakashi before he drove off grinning creepily like the Cheshire cat from Wonderland behind his mask. Deidara and Sakura made their way slowly towards the front door when Deidara's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as a dreadful thought occurred to him.

"You sick or something?" Sakura joked when she spotted his expression.

"No," he replied impatiently, "you weren't carrying anything with you when you went to the hospital, un."

"Yeah so?" She replied distracted, she was still struggling with her crutches as she climbed up the steps to the door.

"Your house keys, un," he cried out exasperatedly, wringing his hands, "how are we gonna get into your house?"

"Calm down, I put my keys in my back pocket." Sakura reassured him, finally making it up the last step to her house.

Deidara stared at her like her hair had suddenly changed from pink to blue. "You don't have back pocket, idiot! You're still in gym shorts, un!"

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you can say, un? How are we going to get in now, un? Damn it." His speech pattern becoming more noticeable. Deciding that he needed to conserve energy due to the lack of food, Deidara sat down on the steps with his back facing Sakura. Continuing his rant, he sulked, "I'm hungry as fuck, un. My house is a thousand fucking miles away, un. It'll take me ages to get back!"

Rolling her eyes, Sakura put one of her crutches against the door, bent down and felt around the floor near the door crack. She found what she had been looking for. She pulled out a string so thin one had to strain one's eyes to see it. At the end of the string was a key was attached to it. Sighing in relief and praising herself silently for thinking of hiding another key there, Sakura got back up, jammed the key into the keyhole, twisted it and pushed the door open. Grabbing her crutch just in time before it collapsed onto the floor, she stumbled into the house and called out to Deidara as she switched on the lights.

"What, un? You broke down your door?" He stared at the opened door disbelievingly. "You're pretty strong, un."

"I used a spare key, stupid." Sakura mumbled tiredly and slumped onto the small black sofa in the middle of the room and put her crutches on the low wooden table in front of it.

"Un, that's great," Deidara was already busy dialing the number of the pizza company and soon placing an order for peperoni and cheese.

Sakura gave Deidara ten bucks for the pizza and went to bathe, not forgetting to take her crutches with her. Five minutes later, she came out of the bathroom dressed in a simple orange tank top and white basketball jersey shorts. Towel slung over her shoulders, she made her way to the sofa where she found Deidara already wolfing down his second slice of pizza. Grabbing a paper napkin from the box on her table and leaning her crutches against the sofa, she joined Deidara and the two of them ate in comfortable silence.

"Pinky," Deidara said finally, finishing his last slice of pizza and letting out a loud burp.

"What," Sakura snapped, annoyed at his choice of nickname.

"Where are your parents?" He continued with a grin, obviously finding pleasure in irritating her.

"Out."

"Gone out?" Deidara asked absentmindedly, eying the last piece of pizza sitting in the cardboard box.

"Yeah." Sakura spoke quickly, eager to change the subject. She caught him staring at the leftover pizza and pushed the box towards him. "How 'bout you, Ponytail? Your parents?"

"Dead." He said it so casually Sakura choked on her own spit.

Smirking, he looked around her house. It was a three room apartment, consisting of the room in which they were, a kitchen and a bedroom. The wall behind him was littered with pictures of her friends and family. In a corner was a messy desk with a laptop and a few school books stacked on top. Sakura noticed Deidara looking around her house. Concentrating on swallowing her mouthful of food, she tried to ignore the fact that he was probably judging her.

"Thanks for the pizza, un!" Deidara sprang off the sofa. "See you in school tomorrow, Pinky."

Sakura frowned, again showing her displeasure at his use of nickname, she growled, "no problem," and followed him to the door.

Hearing the door slam behind him, Deidara made his way back home. A thought nagged at him while he walked. Sakura definitely lived alone.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm really really sorry for all the past grammar errors. I re-read the previous chapters and found a lot. Ahh so embarrassing.**

**Thanks for the reviews! You make me feel very happy when you review :D HEE**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. I don't own Naruto.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Deidara had absolutely no idea why he even bothered. He had woken up an hour earlier and sacrificed his beauty sleep for this. He couldn't even ride there on his motorbike because he had left it in school. She lived three streets away from him for crying out loud. At least it was autumn and the cool weather didn't make him sweat so much.

Grumbling as he trudged up the steps to Sakura's house, he contemplated ringing the doorbell to make her hobble all the way to the door and invite him in, before going back to what she was doing. It was the least she could do after making him think of walking all the way here.

He smirked at the idea of an annoyed Sakura and pressed the doorbell. Five minutes past and there was still no response. Deidara punched the doorbell repeatedly, sniggering when he heard a loud groan and the clunking sound of crutches against the floor. He couldn't resist pressing the button a few more times until he heard Sakura yell, "Stop molesting my doorbell or I swear you'll never be a parent, asshole!"

The door was yanked open. Thank heavens the door opened inwards and not outwards or his nose would have been crushed. Deidara beamed while Sakura stared at him with her jaw hanging open. She was dressed in the same clothes she had been in when he left the previous day. Her pink, shoulder length hair was tousled and her fringe covered her puffy, red eyes. There were sleep lines on her arms, a tell-tale sign that she had just gotten out of bed.

In a croaky voice, Sakura asked sleepily, "Why the hell are you here?"

"What, un. No 'good morning'?" Deidara asked cheekily.

"Ugh," Sakura croaked.

"What, un? Aren't you gonna let me –" Before Deidara could finish, she had already slammed the door on his face. So much for being invited in, Deidara contented himself with sitting down on the steps and looking like a stalker.

Sakura went to the toilet to brush her teeth and wash her face. After that, she returned to her bedroom and changed into her school uniform. She grabbed a box of cookies from the kitchen before throwing books and other necessary school stuff into a small knapsack. Still groggy from being woken up too early, she almost forgot to pack her precious cookies in. She put on her shoe, limped out of the front door and locked it. By the time she turned herself around, Deidara was standing patiently at the bottom of the steps.

Supporting herself on her crutches, Sakura made her way down the stairs and thrust her bag hard into Deidara's chest, making him stumble a few paces back.

"Help me carry this since you woke me up at seven-thirty." Sakura yawned. "School starts at eight-thirty you know? I could've slept for like, forty-five minutes more."

Slinging the knapsack over his shoulder, Deidara slowed his pace and walked alongside Sakura. Secretly, he had wanted to be the one who offered to carry her bag for her first.

"You'll take more time walking to school now, un. Its common sense," he replied. Peering into Sakura's bag, he found her box of cookies. He pulled it out and was about to take one when he felt one of Sakura's crutches whack the middle of his legs. His knees buckled and Sakura burst out laughing.

"Don't touch my food," Sakura said in between peals of laughter, trying to sound threatening. "Did you come to walk me to school? Thought you said something about having to take a shortcut through Narnia to get here."

Deidara could feel his ears heating up. He didn't know what made him walk all the way to Sakura's house to pick her up. He didn't even know why he wanted to help her carry her bag. All he knew was that it would make her life a lot more convenient. Why he wanted to make her life easier, he didn't know either.

Chuckling weakly, he took a cookie from the box and popped it into his mouth. Sakura caught him and shot him a glare.

"Eat another cookie and you'll find yourself at the bottom of the ocean when you wake up tomorrow."

Taking out another cookie, Deidara placed it in front of Sakura's mouth. Every time she tried stretched her neck forward and tried to take a bite, he shifted it just out of her reach.

Sakura couldn't contain her frustration any longer, ignoring the stares from other passers-by, she yelled at Deidara, "you come to my house and wake me up, make me walk the unnecessary distance to the door to open it, plus the distance from the door to the toilet. Do you know how long that took? And now you're trying to make me walk faster by tempting me with MY cookies! Are you even human?"

Grinning, Deidara stuffed the cookie into Sakura's mouth and exclaimed, "We're here, and with half an hour to spare, un!"

"Really," Sakura scoffed, injecting as much sarcasm as she could with a mouth full of cookie. "I hadn't noticed. At. All."

Itachi, Hidan and Sasori were waiting for Deidara at the school gates.

"You left your bike at school," Sasori called out when he caught sight of Deidara's blonde hair. The three of them spotted Deidara walking in with Sakura.

"She's turned that bastard into her fucking servant!" Hidan shouted in mock admiration, "She's good." Itachi simply rolled his eyes and raised a hand half-heartedly in a wave.

"Be nice to her," Deidara whispered as he strode past them. Shaking his head at the confused looks on their faces, he followed Sakura to her locker.

* * *

><p>The next few weeks of school were extremely pleasant for Sakura. Deidara had Hidan, Sasori and Itachi wait at Sakura's locker after class and help her carry any books she needed whenever he, Ino and Hinata, or any of Sakura's other friends weren't already helping her. Deidara also made it a point to meet her after and before school every day to walk with her to and from school, so he could help her carry anything she needed to bring to or from school.<p>

Thanks to that, Sakura had not only become closer to Deidara, she also became friends with Itachi, Sasori and Hidan. By the end of the first week, almost the whole school noticed Deidara's change in behaviour. Deidara's fangirls were pulling their hair out because they weren't the object of his attention. Some other students were already betting on when Deidara would ask her to be his girlfriend.

"Why are you being so nice to Sakura, hn?" Itachi asked abruptly one Thursday afternoon during lunch.

"And why are you making us help?" Sasori butted in, "it's not like we owe her anything."

"She needs the help, un," Deidara answered, stuffing his face with pasta. "Why? You two mind helping her?"

"Actually I don't, surprisingly," Sasori muttered and went back to eating. "She's cool when she's not beating you up."

"Hell no," Hidan remarked thoughtfully with a smile. "Sakura's fucking awesome. She's like a little sister, only she swears with me."

"Could another reason for your unusual kindness towards Sakura be because," Itachi paused and stared straight into Deidara's azure eyes before continuing slowly, making sure to drag out every syllable, "you like her?"

The corners of Itachi's mouth tugged upwards when he caught a glimpse of a light shade of pink staining the fair skin that stretched over Deidara's cheekbones. The blush didn't go unnoticed by Sasori or Hidan either. They started out with soft snickers that soon progressed to uncontrollable bursts of laughter. Deidara was fidgeting in his seat and trying his best to keep a straight face.

"You like the girl who beat you up!" Sasori slapped Deidara on the back.

"Shut up, un!" Deidara winced at the impact and went back to shoving pasta into his mouth.

"You wake up early just to walk her to school," Hidan pointed out. For emphasis he added, "Every fucking day!"

"So?" Deidara mumbled in between mouthfuls of pasta.

"You don't even ride your bike to school anymore," Sasori blurted in exasperation. "You actually paid me to drive it home for you."

"I'm being nice, un." Deidara replied lamely. "I can be a nice guy when I want to."

"You're never this fucking nice to us." Hidan teased, poking Deidara's arm with a chopstick. "When have you ever carried my books to class for me, selfish bastard."

"Why would I carry your books? You have hands." Deidara finished eating and pushed his tray away.

"You like her," Itachi concluded.

"Un," Deidara slung his backpack over one shoulder and got off his seat to return his tray, "gotta go for History now or I'll be late, un."

"He doesn't even like History," Itachi thought.

Unable to resist, Sasori bellowed after Deidara's retreating back, "that was a yes, right?"

Grinning stupidly, Deidara nodded before he could stop himself. He desperately hoped Sasori hadn't noticed it. Striding out of the cafeteria, he tried his best to ignore warm fluttery feeling spreading in his stomach.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! It's been a while, I know. Sorry. Look on the bright side, I'm finally done with this chapter! HEE, hope you like it. **

**Thanks for all the reviews. Really appreciate them. Please review this chapter too yeah! :D**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

"You don't have to walk me home today." Sakura mumbled as she grabbed her back pack and slammed her locker door shut. Deidara had sidled up beside her just as the school bell rang. "I'm going somewhere after school."

"Got something on, un?" Deidara inquired, brushing his long fringe out of his eye and scrutinized her. Something about her had been off the past couple of days. She was being more quiet than usual and her jokes weren't as funny. He didn't know why she was behaving like this but he had a few guesses.

"Didn't I just tell you that, stupid?" She made an attempt to sound cheerful. The look on Deidara's face told her she had failed miserably. Cringing inwardly, she chuckled weakly.

"Alright, un," he helped Sakura with her bag. She gave a small wave and started toward the exit. Leaning against the row of lockers, Deidara gazed at her retreating back. For the hundredth time that day, he felt the familiar warm sensation spreading in his tummy. The thought of walking home alone that day didn't appeal to him very much.

Sakura limped hurriedly out of the school compound. Her cast had been changed from the temporary one to a lime green one. It was harder, firmer and made from the plaster of Paris. She had gotten used to travelling on crutches and could now walk as fast as anyone with perfectly fine legs.

Pausing for a moment just outside the gates, Sakura rummaged through her backpack for her headphones. She slipped the headphones on and continued walking. It had been awhile since she had the chance to just walk and listen to music. Deidara had followed her home every single day after the accident and she didn't like to ignore someone by putting on headphones.

Don't get the wrong idea. She liked that Deidara bothered to walked her home from school every day. Sure he was irritating and thick sometimes, but his sense of humour and charisma made up for it. Besides, he didn't look too bad in long hair. She found it quite attractive. Slapping herself mentally for thinking that, she went on to purchase a bouquet of lilies from a florist and continue uphill along the route she always took when she went to visit her mother.

"Hi mom," Sakura whispered as she made herself comfortable on the patch of grass in front of the tombstone. Pulling the slightly crushed bunch of lilies out of her bag, she said, "got your favourite flowers today."

Sakura felt the cool autumn breeze caress her cheeks, her shoulder length hair whipped around her face. A memory from her childhood crept up from the crevices of her mind and a wave of nostalgia hit her. She spoke out loud as the memory replayed itself in her mind, "Remember how you always joked that Cherry Blossoms were too fragile? Makes me wonder why you allowed grandma to name me that."

"I'm not weak anymore you know, mom. I've grown. I fought a guy the other day at school and beat him in ten seconds flat." Sakura boasted. Lifting her eyes to the sky, she sucked in a breath. "I know I promised to keep you safe that day. You said I was too small. I guess you were right."

"What he did to you was wrong and gross." Sakura's face screwed up in disgust, the tone of her voice became regretful. "I thought I was strong enough for both of us but he got you in the end. I'm really sorry."

Laughing in spite of herself, Sakura added scornfully, "I hope he rots in jail."

She picked up the bouquet of flowers and absentmindedly picked out each stalk, setting them down on the grass one by one in a row. Her chest throbbed painfully, unshed tears were threatening to spill from her eyes. She blinked, trying to get rid of any evidence of her vulnerability. Sakura couldn't cry now, not in front of her mother and certainly not after she had just proclaimed that she wasn't a weakling anymore.

"I miss you," her voice was raw with emotion. "I miss how you used to wake me up every day for school by dragging me off the bed and onto the floor. I wouldn't mind being sore for days if it meant you could still do that. I miss how we communicated at home. Do you remember us having super 'loud' conversations? No such thing as walking to where I was and telling me dinner was ready, even when I was just outside the kitchen on the sofa. You just stayed where you were and yelled. The same went for me, we were so lazy."

"Sometimes I wonder if I'll be as good a mom as you were," her thoughts drifted and she exclaimed jokingly, "guess there's only one way to find out, huh?" She realised who she had been thinking of when she said that and felt a blush creep up her neck.

"Not that I've got anyone in mind!" Sakura choked out, it sounded as if she was trying to convince herself rather than her mother.

Sakura sat cross-legged. With her back hunched over the row of lilies, she hugged her back pack and placed her head on the soft material. She was dozing off and she knew it, but made no attempt to resist the limp, heavy sensation engulfing her limbs. Her eyes slid shut and she lost consciousness.

She felt the cold surface of a metal ground beneath her back. Blinking her eyes open, she found that her vision was fuzzy, like bad reception on a television. Sakura sat up and dainty peals of laughter rang through her ears. Slowly and gradually, the image of her mother formed far from where she was seated. Pink wavy locks cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Her jade eyes that were so full of joy gazed lovingly at Sakura. The sensual curve of her lips was enough to bring any man to his knees, but that tender grin was reserved only for Sakura. With out-stretched arms, her mother advanced towards Sakura.

The hem of her favourite orange sundress fluttered around her knees with every step she took. The outline of her figure became more and more defined as she got nearer and nearer. Sakura found herself getting to her feet; her arms too were open, ready to capture her mother's tiny frame in an embrace. The closer her mother got, the more Sakura craved her mother's touch.

Suddenly, her mother broke into a sprint. Any sign of happiness and calm she possessed before was immediately replaced with panic and despair. 'Only a few more steps' Sakura mouthed, urging her mother on with all her might. Their fingertips were close enough to touch when her mother halted; she stood rooted to the ground in front of Sakura, unintelligible words coming out of her mouth in pants. Falling to her knees, she stared deeply into Sakura's eyes.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw a dagger forced into her mother's waist. Dark crimson liquid was flowing out rapidly from the wound. It was spreading and staining the silky fabric of the once orange sundress. Tear tracks were visible on both the cheeks of mother and daughter. Sakura clutched her mother's trembling body to her chest, willing with all her heart that everything would be fine as it was just seconds before.

"Mom," Sakura's voice was strained, "mom, don't go! Mommy, I love you." The last part came out in a whisper. She already knew she couldn't do anything to stop what was happening.

Her mother raised an arm and brushed Sakura's fringe out of her eyes clumsily with the back of her hand, leaving a trail of fresh blood on her forehead. Tightening her grip, Sakura watched in horror as the skin on her mother's arm crinkled up and burst into ashes. Letting out a shriek, she released her hold on the body and scrambled away, her eyes never leaving her mother's. Bit by bit just like her arm, parts of her mother crinkled up and turned into ashes. Soon, all that was left was her head lying in a pile of black. The two pairs of identical jade eyes met for the last time. Sakura blinked rapidly, trying to stop the stubborn flow of tears. Her mother's lids slipped shut and the only remaining part of her disappeared into a puff of grey smoke.

Sakura's eyes snapped open. She scanned her surroundings and shivered when she saw that the sun was setting, giving the cemetery an eerie glow. Wiping her cheeks roughly and slipped on her back pack. She stood up and picked up her crutches.

"Just a dream," Sakura sighed. Making her way to the exit, she cast one last glance at the tombstone, "I'll see you soon, mom."


	7. Chapter 7

**I know it has been really really long since I updated. And I'm sorry :( I've been busy, but that's not a very good excuse.**

**So here you go! Another completed chapter.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

"Did you hear about Sakura?"

"Of course, do you think it's true?"

"It must be. The whole school's talking about it."

Trying her best to ignore the stares and whispers that seemed to be following her no matter where she went, Sakura trudged to homeroom in a final attempt to escape the attention. What a way to start a Friday morning. Listening carefully as she walked, Sakura picked out words like "whore" and "slut". The funny thing was that instead of the usual furious glares she expected, Sakura found students glancing at her in pity and averting their eyes as soon as they caught her looking.

Confused and a little bit frightened, Sakura quickened her pace and thanked her lucky stars that her ankle had fully healed already. Yanking the classroom door open, she made her way to her seat beside an anxious Ino.

"Hey babe, you alright?" Ino asked timidly. Worry coated her every word.

"And why wouldn't I be?" Sakura's calm reply disguised her inner turmoil she was currently experiencing. She unzipped her bag and fished for the necessary school supplies.

"Do you know specifically what they were talking about?" Sakura shook her head and Ino continued softly, "Sakura, they were talking about your mom."

"What? Why?" Unintentionally slamming her Biology textbook onto the desk, Sakura's tone took on a frantic edge and her eyes became wide. For once the rumors actually made sense. She racked her brain for any incident where she might have let something slip about her mother but nothing came to mind.

Taken aback by Sakura's sudden outburst, Ino shrugged and pointed to the front of the classroom signalling that their sensei had already entered. Cupping her chin in her hands, Sakura tried to concentrate on her sensei's monotonous drone.

Her day went by quite smoothly. The sorry glances and nervous looks she received were not hard to bear. In fact, it was quite comforting to know that the majority of the student body were concerned about the fact that she had no mother instead of judging her for that. Sakura walked to the cafeteria with Hinata and Ino.

"Hey look everyone, it's nobody's child!" Karin's piercing squeal rang out followed by irritating peals of laughter. She was the first person you went to for hot juicy gossip in the school. Everybody stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to her. She wasn't very hard to spot. Her bright red locks stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Shut up." Ino's voice was just as shrill.

"So it's true? You live alone because your whore of a mom's dead?" Satisfaction shone on Karin's face as her friends snickered.

"You tell me since you're obviously the one with the big mouth who told the whole world."

"Nope, this time I heard it from Blondie." Karin chuckled smugly as she saw panic and confusion flicker through Sakura's eyes. She knew the exact conclusion Sakura had jumped to. "So tell me, how many guys did your mom screw before you came along?"

"A lot less than you have this week," Sakura spat out smugly, thoroughly enjoying the effect her retort was having on Karin.

"What? Are you looking for a fight bitch?" Getting out of her seat, Karin placed her hands on her hips and tried to look intimidating. Sakura could feel Hinata trembling beside her; she was never one for violence.

"Really," Sakura muttered as she stalked towards Karin with a slightly sadistic smirk forming on her lips. "Do you really want to go there? Cause I was thinking how useful this tray would be for smashing your head. Don't you think so?"

"Ooh, burn!" A familiar tenor voice rang out and the entire cafeteria burst out in laughter. Backing up a couple paces, Karin cleared her throat nervously and tried to come up with a clever response. The tips of her ears turned as red as her hair and soon she was fuming. Glaring daggers at Sakura, Karin let out a girly shriek in frustration and stomped out of the cafeteria.

Sakura scanned her surroundings and caught Sasori's eye. Giving her a wink, he swaggered out of the cafeteria to tell Deidara.

"Did you really think she was brave enough to fight our Sakura?" Ino teased a giggling Hinata. Sakura's moment of confidence had passed and she pondered about what Karin said. Had Deidara somehow found out about her personal life?

Sakura could not help thinking about the incident at the canteen for the entire day and by the time the final bell rang, she had already mentally build a wall around herself. She found herself giving vague replies and shutting out anyone who wasn't Ino or Hinata. She was conscious of the cold and unfriendly aura she was practically radiating, yet she made no attempt to control herself. Pleading with Ino to help her cover up if Deidara asked about her, Sakura mumbled a quick 'bye' to the only two people she still trusted and made a beeline for the exit.

Itachi felt someone rush past his slender frame. Tilting his head slightly to the right, he caught sight of a pink ponytail swaying side to side with each step said person took. Deciding to tell Deidara that Sakura had already left the school compound, Itachi pushed his way through the sea of students swarming out of various classrooms and headed in the direction of Deidara's class.

"That's what you get for leaving class late," he thought and shuddered. Though he would never admit it, the sensation of bodies pressed against his own scared him immensely. 'Claustrophobia' other people called it. He however liked to think of it as the natural reaction to invasion of personal space any normal person should have.

"Seen Sakura, un?" Deidara chirped from behind Itachi, causing Itachi to jump in fright and Deidara to giggle in an embarrassingly unmanly fashion.

"She left already," Itachi huffed; annoyed that Deidara had managed to frighten him. "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing un, I swear," Deidara replied puzzled. Waving and shrugging nonchalantly, he dismissed the issue; and for the second time since Sakura broke her foot, he started off for home alone. Anyone who saw him would think he was perfectly fine, but Itachi knew him long enough and could safely assume that Deidara would find his mind wandering back to her sooner than he would have liked.


	8. Chapter 8

**I haven't updated in a long long long while. I'm really sorry please forgive me. I'll be updating more often now. I've edited the grammatical mistakes and changed a few bits for the past chapters.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Geraldine who forced me to sit and think about what to write for this chapter. Without her, I bet there wouldn't even be a chapter 8. So yes, you can thank her by checking out her stuff! ****Shiroi Hoshi. She writes very well :)**

**Please review! Thank you! (:**

**I don't own Naruto!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

The shrill ring of his cell phone pierced the comfortable silence just as he was about to reach the climax of a very interesting novel. How Itachi hated these moments. Heaving a sigh of annoyance, he marked his page and made his way over to where his phone lay at snail's pace. Maybe if he walked slower the caller would eventually give up and he could return to his book again. Any glimmer of hope Itachi initially had of finding out when the main character would discover that her boyfriend had been cheating on her all this while were crushed as he flipped his phone open and saw Deidara's name flashing on the screen.

"What is it?" Itachi spoke while walking back to his spot on the sofa. He stretched out into his original position and every so often, his gaze would shift to his book lying on the coffee table.

"I think Sakura's pissed at me, un!" Deidara spoke frantically into the receiver. Itachi shut his eyes and grimaced. This was not the time for a rant, he had to finish the book.

"What makes you say that?" He asked distractedly, the book on the table would be a mere three inches away from his fingertips if he stretched out his arm the furthest he could.

"She left without waiting for me today," Deidara sighed, a thick layer of unease coated his words, "something's wrong un, and I can feel it."

"Calm down maybe she just had something urgent to attend to." Itachi groaned, injecting a hint of impatience into his tone. The book was teasing him! It was right there on the table beckoning him to reach out and grab it.

"Without even texting me first?" Deidara was oblivious to the fact that on the other side of the line Itachi was desperately craving some privacy time with his precious book. He continued with no intention to say 'goodbye' anytime soon. "No way, help me. What do I do, un?"

"You're over-reacting. Every thing's fine." Itachi said with a tone of finality, cursing the day his curiosity got the better of him and decided to lead him to go hunting for the place Kakashi purchased all of his favourite books.

"How would you know, you've never had this problem." Deidra sulked, determined to somehow get a solution out of Itachi by the end of the phone call.

Itachi might have seemed like an emotionless prick, but he wasn't insensitive. He could tell his friend desperately needed someone to talk to, almost as desperately as he needed to read the next line of that oh-so-interesting book.

"Are you free tomorrow?" Itachi inquired.

"Yeah, un. It's a Saturday anyway." Deidara was confused at the sudden change of subject. "But how is this related to –"

"Good." Itachi cut him off. Chastising himself for not thinking of this idea earlier he continued before Deidara had the chance to speak, "we can talk about about it tomorrow."

"Why, un?" Deidara asked meekly, he hadn't taken into consideration that Itachi might have been doing something important at a time like this. Feeling a sense of guilt for his lack of consideration for his friend's social life, Deidara asked apologetically, "Sorry, were you busy or something?"

"I just really need to finish Icha Icha Paradise now alright." Itachi mumbled really quickly, only slightly embarrassed

"You sick bastard!" Deidara had yelled into the receiver, before Itachi hung up and shamelessly went back to reading.

By the time Deidara found the café that he and Itachi were supposed to meet at, Itachi was already finishing his second cup of coffee. He noticed that Sasori and Hidan were also sitting at the table. Raising a hand as a greeting, he weaved through the maze of tables and chair until he reached them.

"How was the book?" Deidara asked cheekily, wondering if Sasori and Hidan had any clue that Itachi had been reading a very wide range of genres.

"Not bad," came Itachi's curt reply. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, he went on before Deidara could say anymore. "Alright, let's get down to business."

He took out a piece of paper from his pants pocket and unfolded it. On it the other three could see Itachi's neat script printed carefully onto one side of the paper in black ink with absolutely no mistakes at all.

"Haruno Sakura is an only child. Her mother was in an abusive relationship and passed away about seven years ago. Her father lost custody of her and has been in jail ever since." Pausing only for a moment to catch his breath, he could see Deidara's expression morphing from shock into disbelief. "She lived with an aunt for three and a half years and recently moved into an apartment under her aunt's name."

"How did you find all of this information?" Sasori asked at last, breaking the silence.

"I have connections." Itachi stated simply.

"That was some fucking intense stalking you did there 'tachi." Hidan gasped, "Did you follow her home or something?"

"No." He rolled his eyes. Itachi would never stoop to that level to get information.

"You sure you didn't follow her home, un," Deidara's eyes narrowed at him, the protectiveness in his voice was almost unnoticeable.

"My dad's was a police once," Itachi wasn't lying; his father had once been the head of the police force in their country. Even though he was retired now, he could still remember the few facts his soon had been searching for. Deidara's face muscles relaxed considerably after processing what Itachi had said. "All this information is supposed to be classified."

It made sense. Deidara remembered Sakura's tiny apartment, he could confirm now that she definitely lived alone. He also understood that the reason Sakura felt the need to protect the helpless was probably because she had failed to protect her mom from her father in the past.

As much as he tried to ignore it, he couldn't push the feeling of irritation at Itachi. He, Deidara was closer to Sakura than Itachi was anyway. Shouldn't he be the one to discover this piece of information before Itachi had? But of course Itachi was the one with connections and Deidara knew Itachi had done the research to help him. It wasn't as if Itachi liked Sakura. Feeling stupid at himself for thinking such unnecessary thoughts, Deidara forced himself to focus on the matter at hand.

"That day in the cafeteria, Karin said something to Sakura about you telling her about Sakura's mom." Sasori said in a low voice and frowned as the memory of last Friday replayed itself in his mind.

"That's impossible, un," Deidara muttered, bewilderment and confusion evident on his features, "I never knew her mom was dead!"

"Then how the fuck did Karin find out," Hidan began. Shooting a meaningful glance at Itachi, he added, "If it was supposed to be classified information?"


End file.
